H.E.A.T, Mason Hill, Collateral, The Warehouse, Leeds 14th October 2022

Fortunately, Angelo Tristan was able to brighten the place up with his mega-watt smile. He’s clearly happy to be back on stage (and thrilled to actually be on a tour bus). It was busy in the venue so they clearly have a following in Leeds. I’m used to seeing a front row of bald heads like a box of eggs at gigs but the ladies were out in force tonight to see a trio of good-looking young bands put on a great show.

A very strong 6-song set starts with ‘Lullaby’. The band are just about to release album 1.5, entitled ‘Re-Wired’. It is mostly a re-recorded version of their debut album with a string of guests like Danny Vaughn, Sari Schorr and Joel Hoekstra on board. I’ll be interested to hear Jeff Scott Soto’s take on tonight’s 2nd song ‘Mr Big Shot’. It’s bound to be great but can he improve on a song that Angelo seems to personify? We’ll find out very soon on October 21st. Current single ‘Sin in the City’ is on the album too and it goes down well, as does another new song ‘’No Place for Love’ which gets everyone singing along, even though they’ve probably not heard it before. This one is destined for their second album but already seems like a live favourite. It's all happening right now for these guys with the album release, imminent dates with Skid Row and a headline slot at FiendFest, so don’t miss them.

There’s a comedy gold moment in Mason Hill’s first song. They had just launched into ‘Hold On’ when Scott Taylor’s vocals cut out. The band carried on playing and you could lip-read Scott singing along while fiddling with his kit, before the sound kicked back in at the exact moment he reached the “can you hear my voice” line. They smash through bangers like ‘DNA’ and ‘We Pray’ and more from their ‘’Live in Glasgow’ set. It’s only the 2nd time I’ve seen them outside their native Scotland but they’re very well received and clearly building up a strong nationwide following, although I still found people in the hall who had not seen them before; they were impressed.

Scott’s cheeky-chappy Weegie banter goes down well with the locals. He paused to give a shout out to Craig McFetridge (drums), who is bravely playing on despite a serious car crash, and also to bass-player Matthew Ward who has just got married. Hopefully Craig’s injuries will heal quickly but Matthew’s pain will probably last for a lot longer! (Just kidding - congratulations).

Rockfiend’s own Michael Bruce has been something of a (grand) father figure to the boys and has worked with them on photography, artwork and design. He was in attendance with his wife Alison but had the night off from the camera as they were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. The band dedicated the classic ‘Where I Belong’ to the couple, which made their night.

They finish a classic 8-song set with ‘Against the Wall’, which is where I ended up as even more folks piled into the hall. They’re doing their own shows this week too, plus Monsterfest in Inverness, so don’t delay in catching them live. It will also be interesting to see if they can start filtering some new songs into a very strong core set.

The last time I saw H.e.a.t was at WinterStorm in 2019 and a lot has changed since then, with two albums and a “new” singer. Some things don’t change though; they still come on to ‘The Heat is On’ intro tape, before blasting into a new song, ‘Back to the Rhythm’ which is a great way to start a show. ‘Dangerous Ground’ and ‘Rock Your Body’ from the 2020 ‘HEAT II’ album keep up the energy levels and it’s a quite different set list since Troon but still very impressive.

Of course, it’s “back to the future” with the triumphant return of original singer Kenny Leckremo and what a star he is. He nails the vocals on ‘his’ songs and also the ones that really established the band as stars after his departure and it’s great to hear older songs like ‘Straight for Your Heart’.

It’s a triumphant return in a venue that is “hot as balls” as Kenny put it and it’s not long before a spontaneous “Heat” chant breaks out for the first time. With the low stage and even lower lighting, it’s definitely the Kenny show visually and he’s well up to it, couldn’t look happier and gets plenty votes for “most handsome man in rock” from the ladies in the audience that love a hirsute man.

After a short drum solo, there’s another taped intro to ‘One by One’ and the classics keep coming after that with oldies like ‘Living on the Run’ mixed up with choice cuts from ‘Force Majeure’ like ‘Nationwide’. You can’t go wrong with performers of this quality and songs like these. They’re clearly glad to be back in action, grateful for the support the Leeds crowd gave them and they’ve definitely not missed a beat with the frontman change as Kenny 2022 is outstanding. They finish with ‘A Shot at Redemption’ and that brings a splendid night of entertainment to a conclusion.

This tour has been cancelled a few times but it was well worth waiting for to see these three fantastic rock bands that keep getting better and better. It was definitely a night to reinforce your faith in quality live rock music and prove that, even in a still-difficult post-pandemic year, there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Mind you, it would have been even brighter if they’d turned the f*cking lights on in the venue.